UK Inflation Calculator

Inflation in 1948 and Its Effect on Pound Value

Purchasing power decreased by 7.61% in 1948 compared to the previous year, 1947. On average, you would have to spend 7.61% more money in 1948 than in 1947 for the same item.

In other words, £1 in 1947 is equivalent in purchasing power to £1.08 in 1948.

The 1947 inflation rate was 7.04%. The inflation rate in 1948 was 7.61%.
The 1948 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 5.22% per year between 1948 and 2018.

Inflation rate is calculated by change in the composite price index (CPI). The CPI in 1948 was 31.1.
It was 28.9 in the previous year, 1947. The difference in CPI between the years is used by the Office for National Statistics to officially determine inflation.

£1 in 1947 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £1.08 in 1948.

To get the total inflation rate for the 1 years between 1947 and 1948, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1948 - CPI in 1947CPI in 1947

×

100

=

Cumulative inflation rate (1 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

31.1 - 28.928.9

×

100

=

8%

News headlines from 1947

Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time:

Civil disorder in Taiwan is put down resulting in the loss of 30,000 civilian lives.

The new Japanese constitution comes into effect.

The alleged Roswell UFO incident happens.

Data Source & Citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from
the composite price index published by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). A composite index is created by combining price data from several different published sources, both official and unofficial. The Consumer Price Index, normally used to compute inflation, has only been tracked since 1988. All inflation calculations after 1988 use the Office for National Statistics' Consumer Price Index, except for 2017, which is based on The Bank of England's forecast.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page:
“Inflation Rate in 1948 | UK Inflation Calculator.” U.S. Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 19 Dec. 2018, https://www.officialdata.org/UK-inflation-rate-in-1948.